


and there’s no mystical design (no cosmic lover preassigned)

by acrookedsaint



Series: the pain down in you soul was the same (as the one down in mine) [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Archie POV, F/M, archie has a lot of feelings and no idea what to do with them, i would say implied barchie but archie's not that subtle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23892346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acrookedsaint/pseuds/acrookedsaint
Summary: He doesn’t even realise he’s falling in love. Some things take time, and some things are inevitable.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper
Series: the pain down in you soul was the same (as the one down in mine) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1721857
Comments: 15
Kudos: 55





	and there’s no mystical design (no cosmic lover preassigned)

**Author's Note:**

> when i said barchie revived me, i meant it. this time we're in archie's head, and man he has a lot of feelings. 
> 
> again all my love to cara, an angel.

‘Thanks for doing this,’ says Jughead, smiling awkwardly as they sit opposite each other in the cramped bunker. Archie always feels too tall, his legs too long to fit in properly down here. 

‘You’re welcome,’ he replies, and means it. If kissing Betty a couple of times means that Jughead gets out of whatever trouble he’s in, Archie will gladly do it a hundred times. 

He’d kiss Betty a hundred times for other reasons as well, but he tries not to think about that. 

Most of the time, he tries not to think about Betty at all.

* * *

Archie doesn’t know when it started exactly - maybe it was somewhere between when she kissed him for the first time and the night he’d split his heart in two - and broken hers in half. Maybe it was somewhere between he’d placed his life in her hands and when she’d clung to him, tears like glass in the corners of her eyes. Maybe it had started long before that, when they’d spent summers fixing gears and playing hide and seek, peering at each other through their matching windows.

It had taken him a long time to recognise it for what it was. Yet it was hard to ignore, because Betty has always been there, right in the corner of his eye. The longer he looks at her, the more he wishes that he had the strength to turn away. 

Betty’s smiles speak of sunshine and spring picnics, the kind that last well into the afternoon. Her laughter tells him stories of their childhood, of grease on their hands and infectious giggles arising from spontaneous tickle fights. The glint in her eyes reminds him of the past but it also promises a future of happiness and magic, the kind that comes from listening to a good piece of music, watching the final piece of the puzzle sliding into place. Archie watches Betty, watches her breathe, watches her _live_. 

He doesn’t even realise he’s falling in love. Some things take time, and some things are inevitable.

* * *

They kiss again, because that’s what people who are dating do, even if the said dating happens in secret. This time it’s different - there’s no threat looming over them, just the two of them standing in a room, Betty’s arms wrapped around Archie’s shoulders, her lips pressed to his. 

It’s not romantic. It’s not even a particularly good kiss. It’s awkward, multiplied by the fact this is only happening because Archie’s best friend and Betty’s boyfriend has incurred the wrath of prep school bullies who fancy themselves murderers. 

But still Archie can feel his heart pounding in his ribcage, is acutely aware of Betty’s breath against his cheek. 

He wonders if it’s wrong that he feels more fake kissing Betty than he ever has kissing Veronica for real. 

He knows it is. 

(But he doesn’t want to think about that.)

* * *

At night he dreams of Betty, just like he always does. She’s wearing that same pink dress again, the one she wore when he broke their hearts. She’s smiling at him, gently, and he’s reminded of the Betty of days past, who fit herself in a mould, who bent herself into the shape that she thought people might want.

Archie thinks that he likes her better now. She seems more _alive_ , somehow. Her smiles are brighter, her laughter is lighter.

Archie doesn’t let himself wonder if it’s because Jughead has been missing in action, if it’s because she hasn’t been spending as much time with him as usual.

 _Stop it_ , he tells himself, raking his fingers across his guitar strings so harshly that one of them snaps. _Jughead’s your best friend_. _Betty’s your best friend_.

Still, he gazes through his window longingly.

And as if by fate’s design, Betty smiles back at him, once again the girl of his dreams. 

* * *

In the end, it’s always them. They move together, as they’ve always done. Betty moves forward and Archie moves forward and his guitar swings behind him and Betty drops the microphone at their feet. 

They collide like stars. 

* * *

Archie remembers, all the way back when they’d been kids making a discovery that would change everything, how he and Veronica had watched Betty and Jughead standing together, so comfortable in each other’s presence. Veronica had made a comment that had stung Archie to his core, although he hadn’t let it show. 

‘They’re each other’s soulmates,’ she’d said, looking wistful. 

Archie had grunted something in reply, focusing instead on the white snow, and the blood on his hand. 

Archie’s never believed in soulmates. It’s hard to, when you grow up with parents who love each other so much, but not quite enough. 

It’s easy to believe in something when you have it in your hands, when you can feel it affecting you, changing you, shaping you. 

Archie doesn’t believe in soulmates.

Maybe that’s because Veronica isn’t his.

* * *

They spin around Betty’s room in his dream, dancing like they did years ago. 

Archie can hear music filtering through, gentle strands winding around his head.

 _Let’s show this wicked town something beautiful and new_ …

They keep dancing, and Archie can hear their hearts beating in tandem, soft and steady.

This is the way it’s supposed to be, he realises. It’s supposed to be easy - it’s supposed to slide into place. 

His hands on Betty’s waist feel solid and sure. 

And even though this is only a dream, it feels real. It feels meant to be. It feels like something that would make people think of soulmates. It feels like a little piece of home. 

* * *

Archie still doesn’t believe in soulmates, not really. There is no mystical design. Cosmic lovers are not preassigned.

But he believes in the things that he can feel, like his heart skipping a beat, like the jealousy that rears its head when Jughead looks at Betty a little too long. He believes in the way Betty’s smile is magic, the way just a touch of her hand can make him move like he’s never moved before. 

He tries not to think about Betty, tries not to think about her smiles, the way her ponytail swings in the wind, the way her eyes sparkle when she’s thinking about something amusing.

It turns out that he’s never been very good about not thinking about Betty. 

After all, why try to stop the inevitable?


End file.
